My Darling Caroline

by Adele Ashworth

Book Overview

"Remarkable...an emotionally enthralling story. Readers will embrace these entertaining characters."
--Arnette Lamb

A true classic, My Darling Caroline marked the debut of USA Today bestselling author Adele Ashworth--and now it's back to enthrall historical romance fans once again! An enchanting tale of a most unorthodox marriage of convenience, My Darling Caroline won the prestigious RWA RITA(R) Award for Best First Novel,...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061905879
• ISBN13: 9780061905872
• Release Date: January 2010
• Publisher: Avon Books
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Simply Magic

Have you ever finished a romance novel and thought, this is how it is supposed to be done, this is how I am supposed to feel? I am supposed to feel that I know the main characters intimately, I am supposed to feel their pain, and rejoice at their happiness. That is how I felt when I read the last page of this book and I realized that, unless something truly strange happened and Adele Ashworth starts writing very differently, I will always buy her books, because this is how romance is supposed to be written.Caroline Grayson is not simply intelligent, she is brillant and wonderfully talented with plants. Ever since she discovered her affinity for flowers, she has wanted to study botany with her idol who is a professor at Oxford University. However, when she is cruely dismissed because she is female, she disguises her gender and applies, and is accepted, to study in New York.However, things don't go as planned when her father announces that she must marry Brent Ravenscroft, an impoverished lord who has come to her father to demand the return of property which was improperly sold to him when Brent went off to war. Caroline's father tells Brent that he must marry Caroline in order to get back what was sold, throwing both of them into a relationship that neither desired. Caroline believes, since Brent doesn't want to marry her anyway, that she can simply get an annulment and fulfill her dream by going to New York. Of course, things don't work out quite that way...What follows is a truly touching story about what it means to love and be loved. The pain, excitement, and healing that often goes with falling in love with a person who truly is meant for you. The most amazing thing about this book, and other Ashworth titles like Winter Garden, are the characters. The reader has the joy of watching two people who had planned different futures for themselves, ultimately find happiness and love. Both have emotional scars, Caroline from growing up brillant, but limited by her gender, and Brent from dealing with his family. I was touched when Ashworth described the pain Caroline felt when she had to stand outside classrooms in order to learn more about the science she so loved, enduring comments about her feminity. So often authors tell us that a heroine is intelligent, but so few show it as well as Ashworth. Thank you Adele Ashworth for giving us romance readers such a wonderful and moving story. For those of you who find yourself without something to read, and have not all ready devoured this book like I and so many other have, or for those of you who simply wonder what all the fuss is about, read this book. It's magic.

I would give this book ten stars

When I read "Winter Garden" by Adele Ashworth, I thought it was the best book I had read in a long time and wrote her to tell her so and she was kind enough to write back to thank me. But, I was wrong, her book "My Darling Caroline" is ranked right up there with "Winter Garden."The book is about Caroline, a brilliant botonist, who is denied admission to study at Oxford university because of her gender. She is admitted to Columbia University in America only because she told them she was a man, but her father had different ideas. He has arranged a marriage for Caroline to the Lord of Weymerth, a man who has just returned from war.To say the least, Brent and Caroline are both opposed to this marriage. Caroline has all intentions of having the marriage annuled so that she can travel to America to attend Columbia and Brent, the Lord of Weymerth, is marrying only to get back some of his property and horses, which he breeds. But fate has other plans for them. The story takes off from there. Adele Ashworth delves into their minds and we get to know Caroline and Brent and come to care for them as dearly as they come to care for each other. I have never read dialogue between the hero and heroine that was so moving and so mezmerizing that it brought tears to my eyes more than once. The scene where they consumate their marriage is so sweet, I had to read it more than once. The book takes hold of you from the very first page and only gets better. I'm an avid romance reader and go through about three books per week, which I think is good considering I have a full time job. I have to say that I read "My Darling Caroline" in two days. I just couldn't let go. I felt the same about "Winter Garden." As far as I'm concerned, Adele Ashworth is some kind of writer and my hat is off to her. She can't write fast enough for me.Please do yourself a favor and read her books - you surely won't be sorry.

So Moved I'm Writing This Review From the Floor

Botany? I despise gardening. But 16 pgs later I'm hooked and halfway through I'm pulling my hair screaming "Just let the poor girl make her lavendar rose!" Caroline becomes torn between fulfilling her ambition and caring for her husband and small step-daughter. How can any living female not relate? Are we selfish? Are they? This book has a go at the answers.Brent is compelling as the hero; brutally honest, haunted, honorable and gifted for passionate dialogue that turned my ears red. His relationship with the "plain-looking" genius Caroline is a coup for all girls not born airbrushed.This novel goes leagues deeper than just a romp and had me rivetted from start to finish. Profound. Cathartic. Ashworth's research in botany and history passed muster for this bachelor's in history. Don't let not being a green thumb keep you from this phenomenal book.

Wonderful debut book!

This is a wonderfully written, emotionally satisfying book with characters I cared a lot about.Caroline Grayson wants tbreed flowers, unfortunately, in 1800s England women are not taken seriously as scholars and Caroline's efforts to attend university seem thwarted.Just when she has made up her mind to leave everything behind and go to school (under a name that won't reveal she is a woman) her father determines she is to marry. Her first meeting with the Earl of Weymerth is not a promising one, but after the wedding, Caroline begins to discover just what a wonderful person her husband, Brent, really is.She must still decide whether to give up her dream or to leave Brent, whom she has fallen in love with, not to mention little Rosalyn whom she loves as well. Brent's past as a spy also poses problems.I absolutely loved this book. Caroline and Brent are wonderful lead characters and I hope you'll give them a try.